Asia-Pacific

Aid arrives after Solomons tsunami

Agencies struggling to reach areas where thousands of people are homeless.

03 Apr 2007 11:02 GMT

More than 5,000 people have been made homeless by the tsunami [Reuters]

Tim O'Connor, of the Caritas Australia aid agency, said relief operations were going as well as could be expected.

"It's been 36 hours and you are seeing assistance starting to get through now, but the problem is the remote location and it's difficut to get to.

"It's a very, very complicated business, but while it can always be done a bit faster, we think it's going as well as can be expected at this point."

Jack Bana of Solomons Search and Rescue said it might take another two days to get all of the displaced tsunami survivors under shelter despite aid beginning to arrive.

Major aftershocks

In Gizo, a popular diving spot 45km from the centre of the earthquake that triggered the tsunami, several thousand residents have remained on high ground as aftershocks have continued to hit the area.

Buildings were damaged by the quake then swept away by the tsunami [Reuters]

"Basically everybody is still up on high ground because we are still receiving really quite major aftershocks," Danny Kennedy, a local dive shop owner and member of the Western Province government, told AFP news agency.

"People are just scared to go to the coastal area because a lot of people don't have things to go back to."

About 2,000 people are homeless in the area, 10 per cent of Gizo's population.

Many homes were destroyed or badly damaged by the earthquake, and hundreds of houses, government offices and businesses in low-lying areas were swept away by the wave that followed.

Solomon Islands police and members of an Australian-led peacekeeping force were due to fly over the western islands on Tuesday to get an accurate impression of the destruction.

"I am rather fearful that the number [of dead] will increase today as we get around the various locations," Peter Marshall, deputy police commissioner, said.